This invention relates in general to routers and, more particularly, to an apparatus for supporting and clamping a workpiece and for stabilizing and guiding the router as it is being utilized to cut dado and other types of grooves in the workpiece.
During the making of cabinets a variety of dados and other types of grooves must be cut in the various panels of the cabinet to facilitate the joinder of the panels, shelves, kick plate and other cabinet components. A router employing a suitable bit is often used to cut these grooves but it takes a considerable amount of time to mark the location of the grooves and position the straight edge which must be utilized to guide the router along a straight line. While the router is generally suitable for cutting these grooves, care must be exercised during placement of the straight edge so that the bit travels along the desired path. In addition, the router must be held firmly against the straight edge to prevent the bit from wandering as the groove is being cut.
Dado grooves can also be cut using a dado blade mounted on a table saw. A significant disadvantage resulting from the use of such table saw mounted blades is the inability to view the surface being cut. In order to check the progress and alignment of the cut as it is being made, the saw must be turned off and the workpiece removed from the saw at periodic intervals. Moreover, because the dado blades rotate about an axis which can be spaced five to six inches from the cutting edges of the blades, there can be a tendency for the blades to waiver and cut a groove which is misaligned.